More than 70,000 fourth-year college students in Chongqing, southwest China, are competing for the 8,000 posts provided by government departments, enterprises and other organizations, said an official with the municipal Education Committee here Wednesday.

Statistics from the committee show that the amount of graduates in Chongqing next year will rise 27 percent over 2004.

The official said that the majority of the students are now thinking of searching for a post in non-government enterprises, a big difference from previous college graduates.

Nearly half of these students expressed their wish to find jobs in Chongqing, and if their wish becomes true, a record number of college students will stay in the municipality.

To provide more opportunities for students to find good jobs, the educational departments of Chongqing will organize 16 job fairs.Nearly 2 million college students across China will graduate in 2005.

Source: Xinhua